There are many situations in which a network user (e.g., a person accessing the Internet) may desire to communicate (e.g. upload or otherwise transmit) a relatively large data file via the network to another client computer or to a server computer.
From example, consider that electronic commerce utilizes the Internet to sell goods and services to customers, and has been increasing in its scope and scale at increasing rates. A seller will typically list an item for sale or auction by inputting information regarding the item for sale into a plurality of information fields using a remote user input device, for example a user computer. The computer is connected to a communications network such as the Internet and when the user has completed inputting the information, data is transmitted to a central server to create the listing.
However, where the amount of data to be transmitted is large, it will be appreciated that the user will wait for some time while the data is transmitted over the network and they receive confirmation that their listing has been successful. This is particularly exaggerated for dial-up and low broadband users.
One example of where this can occur is where the data being transmitted is one or more digital images, video data or audio data to be included in their listing.
Of course, the above is just one example environment in which a user may desire to communicate a relatively large data file via a network (e.g., the Internet). Photo hosting sites on the Internet have been increasing in popularity, and require users to upload multiple digital photographs to a server so that these digital photographs are available to other Internet users and so that a user can order physical prints of the digital photographs.
Other examples of relatively large digital files that a user may wish to communicate over a network include audio and video files. For example, a user may wish to upload an MPEG video to a web site for archiving and availability to other users. Similarly, certain web sites may act as distribution channels fir up-and-coming musical artists, and may accordingly allow for the uploading of MP3 files to a web site.